USDA ARS Avian Disease & Oncology Laboratory

Type of Experience:

The
mission of the Avian Disease and Oncology Laboratory (ADOL) is to
provide leadership in solving current and future problems in neoplastic
and other viral diseases of poultry using basic and applied
multidisciplinary, team approaches thereby benefiting the poultry
industry and consumers

Description Experience:

The
student will experience poultry research within a laboratory setting.
This may include time in necropsy identifying lesions and collecting
samples, as well as time in the laboratory performing techniques such as
virus isolation/cell culture, DNA/RNA isolation, PCR, real-time PCR,
sequencing, pyrosequencing, flow cytometry, fluorescent microscopy, and
immunohistochemistry.

If future students have an interest in an externship at our
lab, that would be great. Future students can apply for
the AAAP Eskelund Preceptorship which provides a stipend towards living and
traveling expenses to attend poultry medicine-related externships. The
link is below.

Institutional Resources:

Our
scientific staff consists of two veterinary pathologists, two
geneticists, two immunologists and one microbiologist. We maintain 40
inbred and outbred lines of chickens with special characteristics
including resistance or susceptibility to tumor induction by Marek's
disease or lymphoid leukosis.

Educational Resources Available:

Our library maintains a number of prominent scientific and poultry-related journals.

Responsibilities Expected of Participating Students:

Responsibilities
of students are dependent on the length of the externship and research
experience of the student. Our goal is for students to be comfortable
and to experience first hand what veterinary research is like. Specific
responsibilities will be arranged in advance between the student and
scientist.

Student Supervision:

Students
will have access to veterinarians throughout the day. Portions of the
day will be spent with a veterinarian or with the veterinarian's
laboratory technician, depending on project needs.